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Title: The photosynthetic response of C 3 and C 4 bioenergy grass species to fluctuating light

Journal Article · · Global Change Biology. Bioenergy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.12899 · OSTI ID:1828389
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]
  1. Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana Illinois USA
  2. Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana Illinois USA, Department of Plant Biology University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana Illinois USA, Department of Crop Science University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana Illinois USA

Abstract Bioenergy grass species are a renewable energy source, but their productivity has not been fully realized. Improving photosynthetic efficiency has been proposed as a mechanism to increase the productivity of bioenergy grass species. Fluctuating light, experienced by all field grown crops, is known to reduce photosynthetic efficiency. This experiment aimed to evaluate the photosynthetic performance of both C 3 and C 4 bioenergy grass species under steady state and fluctuating light conditions by examining leaf gas exchange. The fluctuating light regime used here decreased carbon assimilation across all species when compared to expected steady state values. Overall, C 4  species assimilated more carbon than C 3  species during the fluctuating light regime, with both photosynthetic types assimilating about 16% less carbon than expected based on steady state measurements. Little diversity was observed in response to fluctuating light among C 3  species, and photorespiration partially contributed to the rapid decreases in net photosynthetic rates during high to low light transitions. In C 4  species, differences among the four NADP‐ME species were apparent. Diversity observed among C 4  species in this experiment provides evidence that photosynthetic efficiency in response to fluctuating light may be targeted to increase C 4 bioenergy grass productivity.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0018254
OSTI ID:
1828389
Journal Information:
Global Change Biology. Bioenergy, Journal Name: Global Change Biology. Bioenergy Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 14; ISSN 1757-1693
Publisher:
Wiley-BlackwellCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English

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